Racheal (pseudonym) gave residents a
scare after she collapsed in the passage of her parents’ rented
apartment in the Fadeyi area of Lagos State.
It was gathered that the 14-year-old
girl almost died after she passed out a few minutes after being
allegedly raped by her parents’ landlord, identified only as
Christopher.
The prompt response of residents of Fasanya Street, where the incident happened, however, averted a tragedy.
sources learnt that among
those who came to her aid was Christopher, who pretended as if nothing
happened between them.
However, the landlord was said to have
been arrested by policemen from the Alakara division after the victim
confessed to her parents.
Racheal, an indigene of Ugelu, Delta State, told PUNCH Metro
that her ordeal started the day she ran an errand for the landlord, who
hails from Imo State, while her mother was away from home.
She
said, “He has raped me three times. The first time was late last year
when he asked me to buy him N10 sachet water. I bought the item and took
it to his room, but he locked the door and pushed me to the bed. He
pulled off my pants and I shouted for help.
“He said he would kill me with a knife
he had kept on the table if I didn’t shut up. He then brought out a
black and white cloth, which he used to cover my mouth.
“He brought something which he rubbed on my private parts and his own as well.
“After he finished, there was blood
everywhere. He brought water and said I should wash the bloodstains on
my clothes. He gave me N100 to buy a drug to reduce my pain. He said I
should not let my parents know that he had deflowered me. He said if
they noticed, I should lie that it was a classmate that did it.”
The Junior Secondary School 1 pupil said
the following day the suspect sneaked to her parents’ apartment and
demanded the pants she wore the day he deflowered her.
“I asked him what he wanted to do with
it; he said he only wanted to see it. I gave it to him, and he took it
away. The following day, he returned it to me and said I should make
sure I wear it.
“From that time, my private parts started itching me. I found it difficult to urinate,” she added.
Racheal said the suspect threatened to kill her if she mentioned his name to her parents as being responsible for her ordeal.
He was said to have also promised to buy her a mobile phone if she kept the secret.
Racheal said on the day she passed out,
the suspect tricked her again into his room and raped her, adding that
after the sex, she became weak.
She said the suspect gave her a tin of milk to drink, adding that after she left the room, she became dizzy and fainted.
Racheal’s mother, Elizabeth, told PUNCH Metro that she rarely stayed at home due to the demand of her factory job, adding that her husband was jobless.
She said the family never suspected Christopher, because of the role he played while Racheal was ill.
She said, “I go to work in Agege around
3am, and return sometimes at 11pm, when they would have gone to bed. By
the time I wake up in the morning, she and her siblings would still be
asleep.
“When my daughter started complaining
about itching in her private parts and could not urinate well, she told
me it was her classmate that raped her.
“The landlord took me to the police
station and together with some policemen we started looking for this
classmate who allegedly raped her. I spent a lot of money and we went to
different places, until the police became tired.
“We took her to a hospital for medical
test and when I could not wait, I left my daughter with Christopher.
When I asked him about the result of the test, he told me the doctors
said everything was in order.”
She said a few weeks after she fainted,
she woke Rachael up around 2am and pestered her to open up on who
actually raped her, adding that it was then she confessed it was the
landlord.
PUNCH Metro learnt that soon after the suspect was arrested by the police, Rachael was kidnapped.
Racheal, while recalling the incident,
said she had gone out to throw away dirt in the evening when she was
abducted by three men.
She said, “They said I should not shout and that if I did, they would kill me. I can recognise one of them.
“They said I must not run, if I did, they would kill me. They took me to a house.
“They used clothes to cover my face and my mouth and raped me. I was shouting and crying, but nobody came to my rescue.
“After they were done, they started apologising to me. The following day, one of the rapists brought me back home around 6am.”
Her father, Peter, said the family
apprehended the suspect and was taking him to the Alakara Police Station
when some hoodlums hijacked him from them.
He said he could not tell the fate of the suspect, as the mob pummeled him, before taking him away.
Peter said their neighbours had started keeping malice with them over the detention of the landlord.
Peter, who lost his welding job about 12
years ago, explained that the family did not have the means of
relocating from the house.
“It is not our joy to continue to live
in this kind of place, but what do we do? I lost my job in 2003 and my
wife, who was a factory worker, has stopped working over this issue. We
have spent our livelihood on the infection that affected her private
parts.
“We need the help of the government and
the good people of Nigeria, not only to rescue our daughter, but to save
us and give us justice in this case,” he added.
The Coordinator of the Lagos State
Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team, Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi,
said the victim had been taken to the Mirabel Medical Centre where a
case of rape was established.
She said, “We also informed the
Divisional Police Officer in charge of Alakara Police Station and he
organised officers who apprehended the suspect.
“However, the victim’s mother did not
tell us that she was gang-raped. I think the level of awareness of the
family is low. But we will see the case through.”
The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP
Joe Offor, confirmed the incident, adding that the matter had been
transferred to the State Department of Criminal Investigation.
“The man involved is a 60-year-old man.
They all live together in Fadeyi. The case has been transferred to the
SDCI and I have been informed that they have taken him to court.
“I am not aware that some boys gang-raped her.”
punch
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